WIRELESS BROADCASTING

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 7 August 1926, Page 6

WIRELESS BROADCASTING

DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN interesting letter to kit w. LOCK 'Mr.. W.. Lock (jiiayor of Nelson) has received a letter from Tokio Broadcasting Station (J.0.A.K.) expressing pleasure at learning “from your j honour” that he has regularly heard i their station in Nelson. This is the j first time they have received acknowledgement from New Zealand. The station was established in July, 1925, for the sole purpose of public service, by the principal newspaper proprietors, banks, manufacturers, and business firms of Tokio under Government supervision over programmes, rates, etc. The programmes usually consist of three principal parts: (1) Daily reports such as time, news, stoeks, market prices, special announcements; (2) Educational features such as special courses in household economies, children’s hours, English language courses, literary and cultural subjects; (5) Recreation entertainments consisting of Japanese and foreign songs, and music, specially composed radio plays which are very popular. The broadcasting time is approximately 81 hours per day, one-third of which is occupied by eaeli of the above features. The station starts daily at 9 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m., Japanese time. The subscribers of the station living within a radius of 100 miles number over 220,000, increasing at the average rate of GOO per clay. The proprietors are now planning to build a high power station having 'antennae output of 10 kilowatts, which is ten times the present capacity, this is to reach its more remote friends overseas in America, Australia and the South Sea Islands. They are planning to connect the stations of the entire country, and the combined engineers of the station and the Government have already made a successful test connecting up with Osaka and Nagoya stations, relaying each others programmes.

The Government is co-operating in working out a plan to lay a flexil.de broadcasting and relaying system throughout the Empire under a most economical basis, for the interest of the public. Within a few months they are hoping to be able to announce a broadcasting system of Japan under more unified control increasing the capacities of some of the present stations along various parts of the country.